I found these articles useful for ideas and tips, as well as some thoughts on how to give a great gift and what makes a great gift. I thought I would pass them on in the hope that they help someone else. In addition, if you are looking for more ideas, check out my list of 101 Gift Ideas on a Budget.

Last year, I tried to brainstorm gift ideas for father’s day. My husband is NOT easy to buy for and I figured others are probably in the same boat. That list and my list of gifts on a budget are two of my more popular posts, so I thought I would try this again last year (also, I had a request from a reader 🙂 . Here are some updated ideas.

A Father’s Day Weekend: Take over the responsibilities around the house – for entire weekend. For example, my husband let me sleep in both Saturday and Sunday on Mother’s Day weekend; normally, I sleep in Saturdays and he sleeps in Sundays. If your husband normally takes out the trash, then take that over for the weekend. If you are doing this for your father, then do things to make his life a little easier – take the car and put gas in it. Cut the grass.

Handmade “certificates”: good for “one day out without complaint,” “one day without taking out the trash,” “one day child-free,” “one day out with the guys – with no complaints,” and anything else you might think he’d enjoy. Children could also make something along these lines – with coupons for “one bedroom cleaning without complaint” and so forth.

For the reader: handmade bookmarks, preferably by your child(ren). Audiobooks are good for fathers that have a commute – even books for Kindles if they commute by train/light rail/bus or if they simply like to have things to read wherever they are!Other ideas: a container with his favorite beverage, a snack, and a book (or gift certificate to a book store.)

Dinner: with your little (or not so little) helpers, make his favorite dinner and have all of the family eat together. Two years ago, I took my oldest with me and let him pick out things to make for dinner for Daddy; he did a very good job of picking out things that Daddy really enjoyed and I think it was good experience in thinking about others.

Little every-day gifts: Really listen when he talks. If he has a bad day, step in without complaint and do the day-to-day things around the house that he normally takes care of and do it without complaint and without being asked. Encourage him to spend some time with his friends. Take pictures of him with the kids – frame his favorites. Push him and the kids out the door with balls, rackets, etc. so they can play together.

Touching: Write him a letter about how much you appreciate what he does as a father. Have your kids write one too.

Nuts:If he likes nuts, buy a big container of them and attach a handmade decoration that says “We’re Nuts About Daddy.” Another idea: take a peanut M&M bag (not the big bag) and put a string or rubber band around the middle to make it look like a bow-tie. Then attach a note that says “To the best Daddy, from your little Peanut” (or peanuts…LOL).

For a wife to give: go with him to do something that you don’t normally: monster truck rally, sports event, paintball, fishing, or learn to do something that he enjoys (like his hobby).

Cute: A bottle of soda with a tie and a note: For the Best Pop Ever, a container of Reese’s Pieces with a note -“We love you to pieces”.

A Man’s Bouquet: attach candy to his favorite pens/pencils and put in a cup of his favorite sports team or TV show.

Make homemade ice cream cookies – using homemade cookies (his favorite of course), scoop out ice cream on to one and press the other on top. Smooth over the sides and it is finished!

Craft stores frequently have coffee mugs that children can put a drawing in; have the kids finish that and then fill with samples of coffee or his favorite candy.

For the reader (2): have the kids make book marks, then laminate them (or use the laminating sheets you can get at an office supply store). Another great idea: scan your child’s artwork, shrink several down, and print out several in a row to create a memorable bookmark to laminate. You can also use the scanned artwork to print miniatures out, put

Picture: Frame his favorite picture of the family in a beautiful frame – or have it professionally framed. You could also put a favorite quote about fathers or fatherhood in a frame – print it out yourself in a nice font.

Super simple but from the heart: write your father a letter and tell him what you love most, your favorite memories, and so on. Have your children do this for your husband.

Candy bars:there are a lot of really cute printables out there that you can wrap around his favorite candy bar (“Million Dollar Dad”, “We’re Nuts over You” – over a Payday Bar, and more).

Miscellaneous: digital photo key chain (sometimes are found at drugstores relatively inexpensively), cheese/sausage/cracker tray, his favorite beer, have a lawn service cut the grass for June.

Shocking thought: ask him what he would like MOST for father’s day…

If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. I’m looking for more ideas too!

Now, I have to admit, this has taken some time and effort. My husband, father of my two children, is not particularly easy to buy gifts for; he likes very specific types of games, very specific types of books, and very specific electronic items. He doesn’t wear ties, doesn’t wear long sleeved shirts or sweaters, and doesn’t play golf. This holiday almost always stumps me. So, this year I thought I might brainstorm in advance and share what I come up with, in the hopes that it helps someone else out there with a similar problem.

Sports gift basket: tickets to a game (obviously, has to be one that is currently playing…lol – like baseball), plus a shirt for his team, a hat, or something else team-oriented. Sunscreen could be good, if the game will be outside during the day.

Handmade “certificates”: good for “one day out without complaint,” “one day without taking out the trash,” “one day child-free,” “one day out with the guys – with no complaints,” and anything else you might think he’d enjoy.

For the reader: handmade bookmarks, preferably by your child(ren).

Also for the reader: a container with his favorite beverage, a snack, and a book (or gift certificate to a book store.)

Dinner: with your little (or not so little) helpers, make his favorite dinner and have all of the family eat together.

Little every-day gifts: Really listen when he talks. Take pictures of him with the kids – frame his favorites. Push him and the kids out the door with balls, rackets, etc. so they can play together.

Touching: Write him a letter about how much you appreciate what he does as a father. Have your kids write one too.

Nuts:If he likes nuts, buy a big container of them and attach a handmade decoration that says “We’re Nuts About Daddy.”

For a wife to give: go with him to do something that you don’t normally: monster truck rally, sports event, paintball, fishing, or learn to do something that he enjoys (like his hobby).

Cute: A bottle of soda with a tie and a note: For the Best Pop Ever

For the reader (2): have the kids make book marks, then laminate them (or use the laminating sheets you can get at an office supply store).

Quotable: Find a touching quote about fatherhood, print in a nice font on nice paper and frame.

Picture: Frame his favorite picture of the family in a beautiful frame – or have it professionally framed.

Brag book: make sure his wallet pictures or his brag book is updated – or replace it with something nice.

Shocking thought: ask him what he would like MOST for father’s day…

To be honest, I had hoped to have more ideas…but I didn’t allow myself enough time this year. And I didn’t take into account that I would get sick just before needing to plan two birthday parties and Father’s Day. Sigh. At any rate, this list is a start. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to leave them in the comments. I’m looking for more ideas too!

I started thinking about how to fill stockings for my children (and possibly my spouse) and I realized that I had no idea what to put in a stocking – for a boy, a girl, or my husband. Sigh. So…I thought I’d do some looking and make a list of various things that I thought were good ideas and share with others. Why should all of us have to do the searching and digging? At any rate, I hope this helps.

I tried not to repeat suggestions, but some are appropriate for any or all of the categories. In addition, some of these items are good for either gender. I also did not break these down by age ranges, either, so some are obviously meant for young children and others for teens.